Man's body found floating in creek near Saratoga Lake

Cause of death not known, but foul play isn't suspected

Larry Ruliso, Times Union

By Larry Rulison

Updated 10:49 pm, Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Members of the Saratoga County Sheriff's office gather on the side of Saratoga Lake to investigate a drowning at Lee's Park Wednesday afternoon July 23, 2014 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Members of the Saratoga County Sheriff's office gather on the side of Saratoga Lake to investigate a drowning at Lee's Park Wednesday afternoon July 23, 2014 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

A Saratoga County Sheriff's vehicle is parked near the body of a drowning victim at Lee's Park at Saratoga Lake. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

A Saratoga County Sheriff's vehicle is parked near the body of a...

Members of the Saratoga County Sheriff's office gather on the side of Saratoga Lake to investigate a drowning at Lee's Park Wednesday afternoon July 23, 2014 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

A man's body found floating in the weeds Wednesday afternoon in a creek off Saratoga Lake had been in the water only a short time, authorities say, although the cause of death had yet to be determined.

The Saratoga County Sheriff's Office investigated after a 911 call at 1:24 p.m. Wednesday that a body was floating in the water in front of Lee's Park, a seasonal campground that accommodates dozens of RVs and double-wide trailers.

Burt Mintline, the campground's general manager, said he was patrolling the campground's docks and Fish Creek shoreline shortly after 1 p.m. when he saw what he first thought was a dead animal floating in the weeds about 40 feet offshore. The campground, which is just east of state Route 9P and a state boat launch, has docks at which residents keep boats. But like the boat launch, it doesn't have a designated swimming area.

As Mintline got closer, he realized a human body was floating face down in the water, and he called 911.

Sheriff's officers and EMS and fire personnel responded.

The body was taken to Albany Medical Center, and an autopsy will be conducted Thursday, although no foul play is suspected, Sheriff Michael Zurlo said in a statement. It's unclear if the cause was drowning or a medical emergency or another injury.

Zurlo said that although a "tentative identity" has been determined, the sheriff's office is not planning to release the name to the public until the dead man's family can be notified and the autopsy completed.

Mintline said the man was not a resident of the campground, but he said it could have been a "friend of a friend of a friend."

Jim Connell, a longtime seasonal resident of the campground who lives in East Greenbush, said there are no swimming areas on that part of the lake or the creek, although some campground residents will cool themselves off in the water at the boat launch, which is about 100 feet east of where the body was found.

Connell said it's possible the man had jumped into the water at the state boat launch and had a medical emergency. Although that area of the creek is very weedy, it is only about 6 feet deep. The lake water feeds into the creek, so it's possible the man had jumped in somewhere around the corner, west of Route 9P, and his body floated into that area of the creek, although police were not saying what their investigation had uncovered so far.

Connell had just come up for the day when the sheriff patrols and EMS arrived on the scene. "It's not the kind of place where you just jump in and swim," Connell said.